<p>Hi, Im an incoming junior transfer student for this fall, and I dont have a place to live yet. Whats the best way to look for an apartment close to campus? Walking around? Craigslist? Is there something else I should know about? What areas should I look in? Id appreciate any help.</p>
<p>Go through craigslist or ask some friends.</p>
<p>Craigslist is almost certainly how you're going to find a place unless you've got money to throw around.</p>
<p>Things to know:
1) There are plenty of decent rooms available, which will be significantly cheaper and closer to campus (in most cases!) than renting your own place. Decide if you're willing to share house space with other people, and there are a couple options (student-run homes, going in on an apartment with other people that're looking for one more, renting the basement of some old lady's house).</p>
<p>2) The areas that are close to campus at Berkeley and North Berkeley, but BE CAREFUL. Berkeley's surprisingly large, and relatively little of it is "near campus." Something that's "close to the Ashby BART" is about a mile from campus; ditto something close to the North Berkeley BART. You will have to pay more to be very close to campus (within 2 blocks), but being willing to branch out a bit is fine. Honestly, you get used to walking everywhere pretty quickly.</p>
<p>3) Being near a bus line if you're too far from campus can be quite a convenience. But don't rely on buses to get you anywhere on time.</p>
<p>4) College Ave. is popular with students but, as such, it can get kind of loud if you're close to campus -- which makes sense, as it's home to a few frat houses and co-ops (and 2 of the Units).</p>
<p>5) Be aware that housing costs are silly. You will pay up to 3x rent to move in (first + last + 1 mo. rent as deposit), and water and garbage are often the only utilities included. A room runs anywhere from $400-$1200, depending entirely on the living arrangements, and studios run from $700 (for a VERY tiny space probably far from campus) to $1500; 1 bedrooms knock it up to about $850-$2200. </p>
<p>There are a lot of nice buildings near campus, professionally managed, that might have spaces, but oh boy will you pay for that. Those're the places that have small 1br going for $2195/mo + utilities. Nice, but... yeah.</p>
<p>If you have a more specific idea what you're looking for, maybe we could help more?</p>
<p>One bedroom places sound too expensive. I'm thinking about getting a room in an apartment or house with other students. Unfortunately I know no one (i'm a transfer student), so it looks like craigslist is the way to go. The only problem that I can foresee is that (I would assume) cool people wouldn't need to use craigslist to find a room mate in college, so it follows that if I did use craigslist, I might end up living with some strange people. </p>
<p>I'm out of town right now and I'm flying to Berkeley on the 18th to give me some time to look for a place. Thanks for the responses guys.</p>
<p>try stadium place</p>
<p>stadium place is ****ed. It look promising until I saw the prices.</p>
<p>^ Do you have any friends from your former institution (or HS friends who came here as freshmen two years ago) that you could live with?</p>
<p>Everyone I know there is living in the dorms :rolleyes:</p>
<p>I moved up here knowing only my boyfriend, and I wasn't ready to move in with him just yet. I gave up on the dorms (a triple? in the Units? seriously?) and started scouring Craigslist for <$700 options.</p>
<p>I found a 1 bedroom apartment sublet for the semester (I started in the Spring) for $650. The caveat was that it was fully furnished and came with a cat, and I was basically paying rent while its tenant went for a special opportunity in another location for 6 months.</p>
<p>It worked out beautifully. </p>
<p>I did look at a few rooms before I found that one, and you'd be surprised at the circumstances requiring someone to rent out a space in their apartment. Don't knock moving in with people just because you assume they wouldn't be "cool" or else they wouldn't need to find someone outside their circle of friends to live with.</p>
<p>Maybe you'll end up with strange people, but sometimes that's half the fun of renting a room. ;)</p>
<p>i got one at el cerrito. kinda far but close by bart. the neighborhood is very nice and quiet. i think imma love it =P</p>
<p>I knew I wanted to get out of the dorms for the spring semester last year (I was in unit 1), so basically starting in october I was searching craigslist as often as possible. Basically i never really found just what I wanted, so I was about to call it quits and share a room or something similar...literally 1 week before the end of the semester I found it! A studio apartment for only $650 a month. Granted, it is tiny, but it's just me, so I didn't need a large place. Located in north berkeley, so I got pretty lucky.</p>